Design and analysis of laser-cut based moment resisting passing-through I-beam-to-CHS column joints

Abstract

Conventional circular hollow section (CHS) connections are often prone to severe local distortion of the CHS column surface, premature flange fractures and demand excessive welding quantity due to much-needed local stiffeners, gusset plates or the direct welding technique. This results in an unavoidable complexity, which leads to a possible economic disadvantage. This paper proposes an innovative I-beam-to-CHS-column "passing-through" connection, which avoids the foretold drawbacks and increases the structural performance of these joints. The moment-resisting connection studied in this article was developed during the research project LASTEICON. It consists of primary beams connected to an I-beam passing through the CHS column through slots obtained via Laser Cutting Technology. The characterization of the ultimate resistance of the proposed connection under symmetrical and antisymmetrical loading conditions in bending is studied in detail. This is performed through a parametric study based on finite element (FE) models, which are primarily validated through an experimental campaign. Encouraging agreements obtained between the numerical and experimental results in terms of joint stiffness as well as joint resistance are presented. Moreover, different failure modes are identified and further characterized by

Experimental Validation of Finite Element Models for Open-to-CHS Column Connections

“…Numerical finite element models have been developed. In previous publications [32,33], some preliminary comparisons have been discussed between the numerical models and a limited number of experimental tests in the context of the LASTEICON project. However, the purpose of this paper is to provide a more detailed validation of the models tentatively developed earlier, by extending them to the full set of test results available and to draw conclusions on the parameters that govern the performances of those numerical models.…”

Investigation of thermal behaviour of structural steel S235N under laser cutting process: Experimental, analytical, and numerical studies

“…LC technology is typically used for industrial manufacturing applications such as cutting structural steels. Apart from the high cutting speed of the laser technology, using LC is very helpful for designers to freely design structures with various architectures optimizing the joint geometries and maximizing the structural response both of elements and joints [23][24][25]. One of the most important characteristics of the LC process is its small HAZ in comparison with other thermal cutting processes such as oxy-fuel or plasma.…”

Mechanical Modelling of the Strength and Stiffness of Circular Hollow Section Tube under Localised Transverse Compression and Tension

“…Recently, research works have started to fill this knowledge gap. For instance, the LASTEICON research project [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ], financed by the European Commission, has studied the technical aspects related to the use of the 3D-LCT in Civil Engineering. Furthermore, attention has been devoted to defining design equations for exploiting the CHS column and through I-beam joints in the construction market.…”